


Read 2:13 PM

by CapnShellhead



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Crack and Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Misunderstandings, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 02:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16108871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CapnShellhead/pseuds/CapnShellhead
Summary: Tony texted Steve almost constantly throughout the day. When Steve sends Tony a message and he doesn't reply, he gets a little worried.Okay, extremely worried.





	Read 2:13 PM

**Author's Note:**

> This was an idea that came to me randomly because I gush about Steve a lot and my phone likes to correct his name to "Steven". So, I wondered what Steve would think if Tony texted him that way on accident and Steve was left to decipher what that meant. 
> 
> Special thanks to TheKingofSorrow for help developing the idea.

One 21st century thing Steve hadn’t quite caught the hang of was text messaging.

He didn’t understand why Clint would prefer to send a text followed by another correcting the first and another correcting the second. He didn’t understand the abbreviations Nat inserted into her messages. He didn’t understand the little emoticons Sam inserted into all of his messages. Hell, it took him a while to understand that he didn’t need to sign off on every message with his full name.

But Tony communicates _everything_ by text.

Grocery lists, to do lists, inside jokes during debriefs that Steve pretended not to check. It was this constant stream of communication that made Steve fall for him in the first place.

Shortly after arriving in the future, he found himself unable to sleep. Plagued by nightmares, he often closed his eyes only to wake up hours later shivering and clutching his covers tight to his body. He wasn’t sure if Tony knew or just decided Steve lived in the tower so, the blond would have to put up with his barrage of texts. Either way, Steve would wake up and find ten messages on his phone about everything from Tony asking Steve if he liked what Thor made for dinner that night to asking if Steve thought Fury would come to team karaoke. They didn’t always bring a smile to Steve’s face but it made him feel safer. It told him he wasn’t alone.

After they started dating, Tony upped the ante. He sent Steve several messages throughout the day: “good morning, beloved”, “did I leave the iron on?”, “do we own an iron”. “don’t let me forget to buy Pep a birthday card.” Sometimes he sent little anecdotes about his day or screenshots of books he found online that he thought Steve might like. A few times, stray thoughts he’d had that made Steve blush and wish he hadn’t read them in Fury’s office. Still, it was nice to know that Tony thought about him that often throughout the day.

Tony was a compulsive texter. He sent Steve, at the least, twenty-three messages throughout the day depending on how often Steve got the chance to reply back. Which is why the events of June 26th were so baffling.

They’d been dating for nearly six months. It had been going well, or so Steve thought. Sure, they were both very stubborn men. The first fight they had blew up over something as simple as what to order for dinner that night and Nat still shoots them death glares whenever anyone mentions the pizza topping debacle. They were both a little, as Sam put it, emotionally constipated. Steve preferred to talk about everything face to face and Tony preferred to bury everything down forever. And they were both very busy people. Tony had Stark Industries, Damage Control and Iron Man. Steve had the Avengers, his meetings at the USO lodge and working the recon missions Fury sent his way.

Their schedules hadn’t left a lot of time for face to face contact the past few weeks so it that only made their text convos more important.

That day, Steve had asked if Tony would be home in time for dinner.

 

Tony: _Looks like a ‘no’, mon capitan. Désolé._

 

Steve had jokingly replied.

 

Steve: _You never make time for me anymore. It’s like you’re avoiding me._

Tony:…

 

Steve smiled, leaning back in the stack of pillows behind his back. It was late afternoon and he’d already gotten his morning jog out of the way. He’d planned to take a nap and spend the rest of the day finishing up his paperwork. Nat was coming over to work on some new techniques with Sharon. Sam said he might stop by which definitely meant Bucky would stop by; the man was obvious. All he needed was an answer on whether Tony would be joining them so he could plan what to order.

He waited.

 

Tony: _…_

 

And waited.

 

Tony: _..._

 

And then Steve started to sweat. Reading over his last message once more and then waiting. He’d been joking. He was pretty sure Tony knew he’d been joking.

 

Tony: …

 

Steve didn’t use an emoticon or anything but those had never really been his thing. He looked at the giant keyboard selection once just trying to choose a smiley face but all of them were a little too enthusiastic. When he’d finally settled on one and sent to Clint, he’d replied back in a grumpy mood, positive that it was Steve’s sarcasm.

Steve waited and finally:

 

Tony: _Steven_

 

Steve’s heart skipped a beat, his phone squeezed painfully tight in his hand.

And then nothing.

Tony didn’t say anything after that. Steve swallowed, his stomach twisting nervously as he sat up straight in the bed - their bed. He scrolled through their conversation once more. Tony’s greeting (“keeping the bed warm for me?”), scroll, scroll, scroll, (“if you send me a pic during a debrief again, I will spank you”), scroll, scroll, scroll.

“Steven.”

Steve’s hands shook as he set the phone down and covered his face. Tony never called him “Steven”. Not even as a joke, the way Bucky did sometimes when he thought Steve was making mountains out of mole hills. Steve had once jokingly said he thought Tony didn’t know if was short for Steven. It was so unlike him to use that name.

But he’d called Rhodey “James” once when Rhodey had gotten injured on a mission. He’d used it solely to let Rhodey know that he was serious and Rhodey needed to listen to him. He had nicknames for anyone and everyone, even the Fed Ex guy. But when things got serious, _really_ serious, he used their real names.

So… was he being serious? What did he intend to say?

Steve picked up his phone but there were no new notifications. He tossed it back on the bed with a groan. What was this? Was Tony going to break up with him? _Over a text,_ he mused bitterly. Maybe that was how people did things now? The new Dear John letter? They’d practically gotten together over a text. It was almost fitting.

 _Hold on, hold on_ , he chided himself, climbing out of bed and pacing a bit. He was jumping to conclusions. Why would Tony want to break up with him? He hadn’t done anything to wrong him recently

Had he?

Let’s see: the past few weeks had been a lot of sleeping and… not sleeping. They had sex more often than they actually slept beside each other these days and that was part of the reason Steve had planned on that nap. But, when they were awake, they didn’t fight. Not beyond the usual teasing fights of Tony reminding Steve to put the cap back on the toothpaste and not to leave his towels on the floor and not to leave his clothes on the floor, or his shield, or his shoes, or…

Christ, maybe it wasn’t teasing at all. Maybe Tony genuinely meant it when he said “Hey, babe, that’s the fourth time I tripped over your freedom Frisbee. Maybe put it somewhere safe next time.” Maybe he’d genuinely been pissed off when he laughed and said, “if you can’t keep your clothes off the floor, maybe you shouldn’t wear any”. And maybe he hadn’t been joking when he told Steve, “if you spent as much picking up after yourself as you do working out, this place would be spotless.”

He stopped in place, crossing his arms as he scanned the floor around him. His jeans were lying in a crumpled mess by the entrance to the bathroom. His shield was propped up against the closet door. The closed side as Steve’s “side” was open and overflowing with the hamper inside. Tony had a cleaning service but they’d had to be replaced when SHIELD insisted on vetting a new service when the Avengers moved in.

Cringing, Steve moved over to start straightening things up. If this had nothing to do with Tony being upset with him, at least it would be one less fight in the future.

When he was done, he checked his phone, almost as if Tony had some way of knowing he’d actually cleaned. As if JARVIS would send him an alert or something. It was terrifyingly clear of notifications. Same as before.

He sighed, wracking his brain for anything else he could have done. Let’s see… Tony hated historical documentaries. But Steve had rarely been around enough to insist on watching them. He didn’t like the yogurt brand Steve bought from the grocery store but it was the kind Nat liked so Tony was less likely to complain. Oh! Maybe that was it.

Steve had forgotten to buy Tony’s favorite ice cream the last time he’d gone to the store. He started to pick up his phone and ask when the thought struck him: _Breaking up over ice cream? Come on._

Sighing, he decided he wasn’t going to solve this in the next twenty minutes and he was much too riled up to sleep now.

So, he went downstairs and did the dishes. He picked up around the living room and even washed the towels in the gym.

And he checked his phone. Nothing.

He did his and Tony’s laundry. He’d even volunteered to do Thor’s laundry.

And he checked his phone. Nothing.

He decided to go for a light jog on the treadmill. He didn’t usually exercise this way because he liked to jog outside, to breath in the natural air and see evidence that he was running towards something. But today, the repetitive motion and the sound of his shoes on the track got his juices flowing.

Maybe he was thinking too small. Maybe the problem was just… Steve.

Despite what the history books said, he’d never been perfect. As acknowledged, he could be arrogant and bossy. Sometimes, he found it rather difficult to see and understand others’ points of view, especially if they were vastly different from his own. A workaholic, he made even less time for himself than he made for others and that sometimes meant, if Fury needed someone to stay late or stay behind to talk strategy, Steve would give up his time and, by connection, his time with Tony.

He could be emotionally closed off. That he knew because Sam had blatantly told him that when he was struggling to relate to Bucky after they got him back from Hydra’s control. As close as they’d become, Sam admitted that he sometimes found it difficult to tell Steve when he needed support because Steve seemed like such a “stiff upper lip” kind of guy. At times, he was annoyingly positive and determined that everything would work out because it simply had to. It made it hard for Sam to express doubts.

So, Steve could imagine it was even harder for Tony to express doubts. Maybe things weren’t going well between them. Maybe Tony hadn’t had to work late these past few weeks. Maybe he’d been giving Steve little hints, little messages that sounded like jokes, and Steve had been blind to all of them.

Maybe Tony had never been happy at all and had been trying to tell Steve this but Steve had steadfastly ignored every sign.

Simply because he’d wanted to.

 _Beep beep_.

Steve froze. For approximately five seconds before he stumbled on the treadmill track and it shot him straight through the back wall.

His scream was still echoing throughout the gym as he climbed out of the mess of plaster and dust and made his way back to the treadmill on sore legs. His hip ached, grumbling to himself as he turned it off and grabbed his phone in a hurry.

 

Sam: _Let me in, man._

 

There were two missed calls and a grumpy emoticon. Normally, Sam’s presence would make him happy but today, he wasn’t good company.

He grabbed a towel and pat himself dry as he went to the lower level to let Sam in. Sam took one look at him and frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

Steve showed Sam the messages and the tamer ones above it. Didn’t quite work as Sam still blanched at the one about Steve making sure to buy the flavored lube that didn’t taste like plastic. Steve’s cheeks warmed but he kept his face stern as Sam scrolled through them and formed his own hypothesis.

“I… think you might be overreacting,” Sam said hesitantly.

Steve bit his lip, pacing behind the couch where Sam sat. “I don’t know. If I am, why hasn’t he texted me back? He never calls me Steven, Sam.”

“And you never call me Samuel. If you did, I wouldn’t assume you were breaking up with me,” he joked. Steve stopped, considering it for a moment.

“Maybe but why hasn’t he texted me back?”

“I’m sure he got busy,” Sam said as the buzzer sounded. Steve started to go towards the door as Sam jumped to his feet rather eagerly. At Steve’s arched brow, he swallowed and shrugged. “I’m just, I’m closer.”

He wasn’t but Steve let him have this.

Sam returned with Bucky in tow. Nodding at Steve, Bucky sat on the couch and kicked his foot up.

“Sam says motor mouth left you for Thor?” he asked and Steve rolled his eyes.

Sam smacked him in the face with a pillow and grabbed Steve’s phone. Perhaps, Steve should be concerned at how routinely Sam entered in his passcode but maybe making “Tony” his passcode hadn’t been the smartest thing.

Sam handed the phone to Bucky who scrolled for about two minutes before shrugging. “I don’t see what the problem is.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Sam began. He handed it back to Steve. “Why don’t you just ask if you’ll see him later?”

At Steve’s frown, he continued, “It’s neutral. Trust me. The worst thing you can do is make a big deal about this.” At Steve’s doubtful expression, Sam typed it out, showing it to Steve who read it about six times before he agreed.

 

Steve: _I’ll see you later?_

 

Then they waited.

And waited.

Sam set the phone down on the table and they all stared at it like it was a live bomb bound to go off at any second. Eventually, Bucky got bored and rested his cheek on Sam’s shoulder. They started some quiet conversation, Bucky’s face more open than Steve was used to. It pained him a bit to see he was so close to Sam and still had trouble spending long hours with Steve but he was glad Bucky had someone.

Eventually, it seemed a little too intimate pacing nearby to them and Bucky’s eyes had started to crinkle the way they always did when he really liked someone. Steve moved closer to the kitchen area when the phone buzzed.

He quite literally vaulted over the kitchen island to get to it but Sam was faster.

“See, there’s nothing to worry about – oh, no,” Sam said, his voice dropped drastically. Bucky looked to him in question and then back at the phone. Sam ran a hand over his head before handing it over. “it doesn’t look good, man.”

Steve’s heart was in his throat as he read the reply.

 

Steve: _I’ll see you later?_

Tony: _k_

 

Steve blinked, reading it seven times before he returned to the men on the couch. Bucky’s expression hadn’t changed: he was still rather apathetic. But Sam was now staring at Steve like he didn’t envy him at all.

“What is it?” Bucky asked as Steve sat down beside Sam with a heavy sigh.

“That usually doesn’t mean anything good,” Sam said slowly.

“He didn’t even use any emojis the way he usually does,” Steve replied, shaking his head. “Might as well have spit in my face.”

“Oh, come on,” Bucky exclaimed as the doors opened and Sharon and Nat appeared.

Nat took one look at Sam’s frown and Steve who was quietly muttering to himself, his face in his hands. She walked over and kicked Bucky’s boot. “What happened?”

Bucky explained the shorthand as Sharon sat down across from Steve and pet his shoulder. Then she picked up the phone and typed in his passcode. Because everyone knew it apparently.

She tutted quietly, scrolling a bit further up before hissing. “Ouch.”

Nat took it from her, reading through as Sharon chewed on her lip and rest her cheek against Natasha’s hip. It took a moment to realize Natasha was slowly carding her fingers through Sharon’s hair. Steve blinked at them confusedly before looking to Sam who shrugged.

Finally, Nat handed it back to Steve with a shrug. “I don’t see the problem.”

“What?” Sam, Sharon and Steve asked.

“He didn’t say anything bad or even passive aggressive. Clearly, he got busy and forgot to text you back. He’s a busy man,” she said, only half joking by the sound of it.

“What about what Steve said before that?” Sharon demanded, turning to stare up at Natasha.

“It was a lowercase ‘k’!” Sam exclaimed.

“No emoticons!” Steve shouted.

Natasha said, “He didn’t have time to pick out a tiny smiley face. It’s not a big deal.”

“He was busy!” Bucky began.

“He always sends me smileys,” Steve whined.

“It’s weird timing, babe. Look at how quickly he responded before that,” Sharon replied.

“It was a lowercase ‘k’!” Sam shouted again. Then his voice grew louder, “Steve! Steve, what are you doing?”

He watched as Steve grabbed his phone, vaulted over the table as Sam chased him and typed a message and hit send.

 

Steve: _Everything okay?_

 

Sam snatched the phone, shouting as Nat and Sharon stood behind him.

“What did he say?” Sharon asked as Natasha tried to snatch the phone from Sam.

“What did he say?” Bucky asked, standing as Sam tried and failed to hide behind him.

“Sam, give me the phone!” Nat commanded.

She pinched a nerve in Bucky’s side, deferring him as she climbed over and grabbed the phone from Sam’s hands. She opened it and Steve was going to change his passcode as soon as he found a new place to live because he couldn’t bear to live here after Tony officially broke up with him. She read the question and shot Steve an exasperated look.

“Really,” she began, her eyes on the screen for a moment. Then her brow furrowed and she tsked quietly. “Okay, that’s… weird.”

“What?” Steve asked, moving in closer.

 

Steve: _Everything okay?_

Tony: * Read at 2:13

 

“Okay, see what I mean?” Sam demanded loudly, dodging Bucky’s head as he tried to lean in over the phone the same time as Sharon. Their heads knocked together, each letting out a shout.

Steve tried to reach for the phone once more but Nat snatched it away, climbing backwards over the ottoman as Steve followed.

“Just let me-“

“You’ll only make it worse, Steve-“ Nat began as Bucky and Sharon started to follow.

“I told you!” Sam shouted.

“You didn’t tell us anything! I still think you’re all making a big deal out of nothing!“ Bucky shouted.

“It was a lowercase ‘k’!” Sam shouted once more as the elevator doors opened and Clint and Thor entered, eyes wide.

+

Tony had a busy morning.

He’d wanted nothing more than to lie in bed with Steve wrapped around him but duty called and he’d had to wake up before Steve’s 5AM run, which was just not cool. He showered, got dressed, dropped a kiss on Steve’s forehead before leaving for work.

When he finally found time to text Steve, he was shoveling oatmeal in his mouth and texting at the same time. Pepper knocked on his door and he sent a quick reply back, approving the auto corrected message without a second thought. Then she literally pulled him away from his breakfast to make it to their board meeting on time.

It was only after he’d been thirty minutes into the world’s most boring advertising meeting before he realized he’d actually left his phone in his office. So, no sexting with Steve. He’d have to be professional today. Snooze.

When he finally returned back to his desk, he saw Steve had asked if he’d see him later. He started to reply when the director of the R & D department came in with an emergency about the Stark Pod upgrades. Tony set down his sandwich, shot off a quick reply and left.

He returned a few hours later and checked his phone when, once again, Pepper came to his door to fetch him for the next meeting.

By the time he arrived back at the tower, dinner was already on the table. He sighed in relief, pulling off his jacket as he sat down at the table in the chair closest to the food.

Steve sat across from him, looking from Tony to the seat beside him with a wounded look. Tony started to reply when Thor handed him the plate of potatoes and he nearly moaned. “Thanks, Big Guy.”

Steve’s brow furrowed as he looked from Thor to Bucky and averted his gaze. Which was weird but Tony figured it was some inside joke between them. The dinner conversation was light. Deceptively so, to an extent that Tony started to feel certain he’d missed something. For one thing, Sam kept finding a new topic to talk about whenever Steve so much as opened his mouth. Sharon and Nat were muttering quietly to each other in Russian. Bucky was staring at Tony rather intently and Thor and Clint appeared to find their dinner too delicious to bother joining in.

It was all… weird.

Then Tony looked to Thor and asked, “Would you mind passing the gravy?”

And Steve leaned across the table and asked, “What did I do?”

Tony stared at him blankly, his eyes wide with confusion. “What?”

“Just tell me. I know I’m messy and I haven’t made time for you lately and last time we had sex, I went to sleep like right after.”

“I am eating,” Clint muttered quietly into his glass.

“Steve, what are you-“

“And I don’t always listen to you. I know that. I get that.”

“Do you?” Bucky asked quietly as Sam started to push his chair back, pulling Bucky with him.

“I’m workin’ on it, sweetheart. Honest, I am. I promise, I can do better if you just tell me what I did,” Steve finished helplessly.

The table had cleared out save for Clint who was trying to stuff as much of his food into his mouth as he possibly could before Thor bodily hefted him from the table.

Tony watched them go with a frown before turning to Steve. He set his napkin down and got up, moving around the table to sit beside Steve. His jaw tensed, his face as still as ever but his eyes… Steve had never looked at Tony like this before. Or, at least, not that Tony had seen. Tony took his hand and watched as Steve’s eyes only widened in pain.

“Hey, hey, whatever you think I did, I didn’t,” Tony said. “What is this about?”

“You text me five hundred times a day,” Steve said.

“… and you don’t like that?” Tony asked with a wince.

“No,” Steve said with a sigh, covering his face with his free hand. “You text me five hundred times a day. Except today.”

Tony frowned at him, still not quite getting it. “I’m… sorry?”

“I asked if you were avoiding me and then you said ‘Steven’, which you never call me, and you didn’t say anything.”

“Then I said I’d see you later.”

“I asked if everything was okay and you read it but…”

Tony studied his face for a moment before he sighed and covered his face. “I never replied back.” He laughed softly, apologizing when Steve’s hand tightened in his. He looked to him sincerely, his voice soft, “Steve, I’m not mad at you.”

“You’re not?” Steve asked cautiously.

“I’m not. I honestly… don’t know how to be mad at you,” Tony confessed with a smile. “I mean, beyond the big stuff like you changing the channel when I’m resting my eyes or sneaking vegetables on my plate when we order Chinese food. That stuff really grinds my gears but the other stuff… come on. We made it this far without me trying to smother you in your sleep. I think we’re set for life.”

For the first time in hours, Steve felt himself start to relax. He tried a small smile, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tony said with a nod, leaning in to steal a kiss. “You are stuck with me forever now. Kinda think you should look more worried.”

Steve shook his head, pulling him in for a longer kiss. “I’m good.”

“You sure?” Tony whispered, resting his forehead against Steve’s.

“You sure?” Bucky asked from the door way and they pulled back to see him grinning smugly from his spot against the wall.

“Buck, come on,” Steve chided.

“Sam owes me fifty bucks,” Bucky said as Sam shouted from the hallway.

“It was a lower. Case. ‘k’!”

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me on [tumblr](https://capn-shellhead.tumblr.com)!


End file.
